worship | formation | justice | inclusion

Worship

Every Sunday we gather to worship together.

Members of our diverse team and community offer dynamic and engaging preaching no matter your stage of life or faith. Music offered by our talented choirs, historic organ, and lovely congregation honors the standards of our faith while engaging the stories of today.

Sundays 10:55 AM - In Person & Online

In Person Worship

Online Worship

Formation

Throughout the week we gather to fellowship and grow together.

Duke Memorial offers many ways to engage in the life of our congregation throughout the week. These groups meet in homes, breweries, and church. We gather together people around a central idea, question, or activity so that we can be formed in faith together. 

Sundays & Weekdays - In Person & Online

Connect | Small Groups

Welcome to Advent at Duke Memorial

     Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year begins. Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving; and yet, the world as we know it spins madly on. In many ways, pregnant Mary was surrounded by endings—large and small, personal and political. But Mary proclaimed hope in a God who was and is making all things new. Christ’s birth offered a beautiful new beginning for shepherds and Magi alike—all the while, King Herod tried to bring Christ’s story to an end. When we ourselves navigate seasons filled with endings and beginnings, we need reminders. We need words that can feel like steady ground, like a path for our feet to find as we step forward into the unknown.
     We have crafted an Advent series filled with blessings, with the words we need to hear again and again as we begin a new season. We imagined the words Mary would speak to her newborn son. What scriptures and stories would she impart to him? What lessons would she teach him as he grew? And so, our weekly themes may feel like the lessons we teach to children, but in reality, these are lessons we continue to learn and relearn as adults. They may sound like the messages we impart to loved ones during special ceremonies or sacred rituals. We intentionally selected scriptures that may be frequently used in weddings, ordination services, or baptisms. And so, we invite you to enter this Advent season as if you are entering a sacred new chapter, holding fast to the reminders that will bolster you for the journey ahead.
     As you journey through this season, may you find words for belovedness and hope. May you find words for beginning again. For no matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, love is your beginning.

Join us in Worship throughout December!

December 1st, 10:55am: The First Sunday of Advent, David Stuntz joining us as the pianist in worship!
December 8th, 10:55am: The Second Sunday of Advent, Al Strong will be in worship! 
December 15th, 10:55am: The Third Sunday of Advent
December 22nd, 10:55am: The Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 24th, 1:00pm: Interactive Christmas Eve Service which will include communion and candlelight worship, child-focused liturgy, interaction, and sensory storytelling.
December 24th, 5:00pm: Candlelight Christmas Service

Our Welcome to All

As our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to love and accept every person, Duke Memorial United Methodist Church welcomes into our life together those of every age, race, ethnic background, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, family or socioeconomic status, educational background, and physical or mental ability. In our commitment to the reconciliation of all persons as beloved children of God, we celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all. We invite you to join us in our faith journey toward discipleship in Christ with mutual respect, understanding, and love.

Learn More | Welcome & Inclusion

Volunteer

Our Partners

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Our Story

When Duke Memorial was birthed in 1886, one of its founders, Mr. Washington Duke, believed this new church in the West End of downtown Durham was to be a church for the masses. Today our mission is much the same. Our congregation desires to share Christ from the heart of Durham through our hospitality and welcome, through our worship of God, through our faith in and faithfulness to Jesus Christ, and through our work of compassion, justice, and peace in Durham and beyond​.

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